Petition Tries To Save Geology Program

STORRS — More than 3,300 people from Alaska to Australia have signed an online petition to try to save from extinction the geology and geophysics department at the University of Connecticut.

The petition opposes the university's plan to dissolve the department and asks UConn's president and board of trustees to consider an alternative before making such a drastic move.

Robert Sernoffsky, a graduate student who started the drive at www.petitiononline.com/102777/petition.html, said he was floored when he heard about the decision to dissolve the department and wanted to raise awareness about the situation

Students, professionals and geology department heads at colleges across the country and the world are among the thousands of names listed on the petition.

Faced with budget cuts, a critical department review and a dwindling number of students majoring in geology, Ross D. MacKinnon, dean of liberal arts and sciences at UConn, decided to dissolve the department by the fall. The department's eight faculty members have been encouraged to find jobs in other departments and the 24 students majoring in the field will be allowed to complete their degrees.

The proposal has been approved by the provost and is expected to go before the board of trustees March 23.

MacKinnon said he had seen the petition and, pointing out that it was posted online, questioned how much knowledge signers really have about the situation at UConn.

Since the decision become public, MacKinnon has met with faculty members and students and assured geology majors they will be able to finish their degrees. He has also met with several concerned members of the university's undergraduate student government.

MacKinnon said he hopes the faculty can come up with a multidisciplinary earth sciences or geoscience department that is better than the current department.

Jonathan R. Gourley, a doctoral student in UConn's geology department, said he is pleased the dean is exploring changes to the department, but said students still feel left in the lurch.

``Where are we going to conduct our research? Where are we going to take our classes?'' Gourley asked.

Anthony Philpotts, a geology and geoscience professor, said the idea to dissolve the department is terrible.

``A number of us here have international reputations and it really is disappointing to see this happen to this department, just throwing it away,'' said Philpotts, who has been with the department for 34 years.

``We have gotten reaction from across the country and they couldn't believe this was happening at the University of Connecticut. We know of smaller colleges where it was shut down, but not a university.''

Philpotts said geology majors from UConn all got jobs quickly upon graduation. He said those majoring in environmental science, a sampling of a wide range of disciplines, had more difficulty getting jobs.

He said he could not see the savings in eliminating the department, particularly because none of the faculty is being laid off. He added it would be impossible for geology faculty to get external grants from the National Science Foundation without a department and associated graduate students.

``It's a terrible tragedy if they close that department,'' said Ron Gyllenhammer of Southington, a petition signer who had hoped to enroll as a graduate student in geology this fall.

``If they truly want to be a world-class university,'' he said, ``that's something that they can't ignore.''